U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/271,939, filed Jul. 28, 2009, is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Typically, as a harvesting machine, such as, but not limited to, a combine, moves through a field while harvesting a crop such as wheat or other grasses, the crop is cut and conveyed into the harvesting machine and into a threshing and separating system thereof where the grain is separated from material other than grain, commonly referred to as MOG or crop residue. Much of this crop residue, largely in the form of straw, is propelled within the machine from the threshing and separating system to a discharge outlet, typically at the rear of the machine. Also typically, within, or just outwardly of, the discharge outlet, a spreader will be provided, configured and operable for propelling the crop residue outwardly from the machine so as to be deposited in a desired pattern on the field. On some machines, rear doors are configurable in a windrowing mode such that the discharged crop residue will bypass the spreader, so as to pass outwardly from another discharge outlet in a more compact flow, for forming a windrow on a field. It is also possible for the spreader to be removed for windrowing. However, both of these options for conversion to a windrowing mode, and conversion back to the spreading node, entail a significant amount of work and time, which translates into lost harvesting productivity, and in the latter instance, the spreader must be lifted, carried and stored, which can be cumbersome, particularly, when such conversions are required multiple times during a harvesting operation, e.g., more than once daily. In this regard, it is foreseen that over the course of a harvesting operation, several different fields or regions of a field may be harvested, and that it may be desired to windrow only certain fields or regions.
One common spreader configuration is a pair of circular spreader disk assemblies mounted side-by-side generally beneath the combine's rear crop residue discharge outlet. Such spreader disk assemblies typically have been assembled from various component parts, including a spreader disk or plate and a plurality of separate spreader fins or bats of varying configurations which have been installed on the spreader plates to extend upwardly from a top surface of the spreader plate. The spreader bats have typically been secured to the spreader disks by various hardware connectors, some of which allow mounting the bats in a variety of positions or orientations. Reference variously in this regard, Berner et al. U.S. Pat. No. 6,726,131 issued Apr. 27, 2004; and Schwinn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,473,171 issued Jan. 6, 2009. It is also known to use an inverted disk as a manner of conversion of the spreader for windrowing, wherein the discharged crop residue will fall onto the batless side of the disks, then fall from the disks onto the ground into a windrow. Reference in this particular regard, FIG. 14 of Schwinn et al. U.S. Pat. No. 7,473,171. An advantage of this arrangement is that the crop residue is generally propelled from the discharge outlet at a relatively high speed, and striking the disk en route to the ground decelerates and reduces the speed of the residue such that it will be dropped more gently onto the stubble remaining in the field, instead of being driven into it at high velocity, so as to result in a windrow that is easier to rake and pick up. And, if a pair of side-by-side spreader disks is used and counter rotated as illustrated in the figure, they can actually control the width of the windrow to some extent. However, again, conversion to a windrowing mode, and conversion back to a spreading mode, using this apparatus involves removing and reinstalling the disks, and thus entails significant work and interruption of harvesting operations.
What is sought therefore, is a manner of quickly and easily effecting conversion of a spreader disk assembly between a spreading mode and a windrowing mode, that overcomes one or more of the shortcomings set forth above.